What The Future Holds
by little princess 15
Summary: Oneshot, AU. "I'm scared." She said with terrified emerald eyes. "They will never be able to keep me away from you. I will always be by your side, no matter what." Rapunzel has troubles sleeping at night, so she sneaks out of the palace to visit Eugene. They end up stargazing and having a very much needed heart to heart conversation.


_**What The Future Holds**_

**Hey guys! This is a bonus scene for the story **_**More Than Words Could Tell**_**. It takes place three years before the events of the story. For those of you who haven't read **_**MTWCT**_, **it's not exactly necessary for you to read it, though I'd suggest it so that you could understand this little oneshot better, this could also be a standalone story. I hope you like it!**

**Remember that this is an AU and the characters may be a little OOC. And don't forget that in this storyline Eugene is just three years older than Rapunzel and they met when they were little. Okay, now that we have this settled, enjoy the story!**

**Disclaimer: I definitely don't own Tangled.**

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It was a dark summer night in the kingdom of Corona. The only light illuminating the deserted city was the silvery moonlight, casting ominous shadows around the empty streets. The village was usually a lively place, with people animatedly waltzing around the streets doing their daily tasks. But when the dark of the night replaced the warm rays of the sun, the town emptied. People taking shelter inside their warm homes and leaving the streets completely deserted and eerily quiet. For most people, the darkness of the night made the streets not exactly a safe place to be wandering around.

At this hour of the night, the majority of the kingdom was already resting, including the inhabitants of the castle of Corona. The palace seemed to be engulfed in peaceful silence, the windows closed and the lights out. Well, almost everything was quiet and dark. A single light was reflecting from a window, standing out in the shadows surrounding the apparently quiet and peaceful castle. But it was not just any window. Of course it had to be the window of the Princess' private chambers.

After half an hour of restlessly rolling and tossing around in her bed without managing to fall asleep, Rapunzel resigned herself to a sleepless night. Her insomnia was not going to go away anytime soon, so what was she doing wasting her time staring at the ceiling? She shoved the covers off of her and climbed out of bed, her bare feet tiptoeing stealthily against the marble floor until she reached her vanity table. She took one long glance at her reflection in the impossibly big mirror, and couldn't help but frown at the girl staring back at her.

She hadn't felt like herself in a long time. It was probably the fact that she was steadily changing, both physically and emotionally. Her face did no longer resemble the one of a young child, it had lost its baby fat. The roundness had developed into a more defined and slim jawline and her cheeks were not as chubby as they used to. She didn't know if she liked the change all that much, it was a reminder of all the changes that were currently going on in her messy life. She missed the old days, when she was young enough and she didn't need any makeup to hide the light freckles on her cheeks and make her skin look perfectly smooth and pure. She missed the days when she was a young girl and didn't need a corset to make her waist look slimmer and her figure more defined. She also missed the time when her hair wasn't this long, now she couldn't go anywhere without her long golden locks being tied up in an elaborate braid to prevent the long strands from falling into a messy pile on the floor.

But most of all, she missed the free time that she used to spend playing around with her best friend. Rapunzel sighed as she walked to her window and opened the silk curtains to let the silver glow of the moon outside stream inside her poor lit bedroom. She didn't know that growing up would be this hard. She marveled at the activities that she had been forced into for the past few weeks. It felt like ages since she had done something that she truly had enjoyed.

It had been a really rough week for her. Now that she was fifteen she had more responsibilities. Her tutoring lessons were getting more difficult, she had more duties as a princess like attending to important ceremonies and her schedule was getting even busier as time went by. She didn't have as much free time as she used to, and worse, she couldn't do the same things that she used to do. Like playing in the gardens, going to secret trips to the woods, going to the town whenever she wanted, because she was too busy studying to become the fine young lady that she was supposed to be.

She hadn't even had time to visit Eugene at the orphanage, which was bad enough to put her in a really bad mood. Why did she have to stay in the palace trying to memorize useless things like how to properly hold her teacup during a tea party, when she could be out enjoying the day like she used to do when she was younger? She missed Eugene terribly, her best friend would surely understand why it seemed so pointless to learn how to be a proper lady when she didn't care at all about what other snob nobles would think of her if she just decided that she didn't want to wear a corset anymore.

She felt trapped in here, like she was living a life that wasn't supposed to be for her. There was no one here that understood how she felt, and the only person that seemed to understand her perfectly without her even needing to explain was far away from here. Too far away in her opinion. She needed someone to talk to, Eugene would understand the feeling of desperately wanting something that you just couldn't have. She felt utterly frustrated, and the anxiety building up inside her would surely make her explode sometime in the near future. She could have anything she wanted, she had everything that a person could possibly desire, fancy clothes, an enormous castle, expensive furniture, she even had two loving parents and an adoring nanny. But there was only one thing that she desired with all her heart, and no matter the amount of richness that she possessed, she just couldn't have it. Freedom.

She stared at the sight of the dark and peaceful village for what felt like forever, before she stubbornly made up her mind. A whole week without seeing her best friend was just about enough for the fifteen-year-old girl, and she was not going to wait until her nanny decided that she could have some free time. After all, she knew that Mother Gothel despised Eugene for some unknown reason, and Rapunzel didn't feel like arguing with the older woman why she shouldn't even grace _'that filthy orphan boy'_ with her presence.

Rapunzel opened the crystal doors of her floor-length window leading to the balcony. She stepped out, shivering slightly in the cool night air and not caring at all that she wasn't wearing her slippers. She surveyed the ground beneath her balcony, considering how far down she could go using her long golden hair as a rope. She let her long strands of hair fall down and was relieved to notice that it almost touched the ground, she could use that to escape her luxurious prison.

Rapunzel knew that she would get into really big trouble if the guards patrolling the castle caught her, but for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to care at all. With a determined frown, she tied a thick strand of hair to the marble banister at the edge of her balcony and peered over it, checking that no guards were wandering around near there. With a satisfied sigh, she pulled lightly at the hair to make sure that it was safely tied and without a second thought, she jumped over the edge of the balcony, sliding with exhilarating speed to the ground beneath using her hair as a silky rope. The breeze was blowing against her face, making her feel like she was flying as she descended all too quickly, and her feet finally touched the ground without making much of a sound.

The courtyard seemed to be completely deserted, to her relief, and she carefully slipped out of the palace without being noticed, exiting through the back of the castle, where the guards rarely patrolled. She didn't care that she was still in her nightgown, with only a thin silk almost translucent robe covering most of her body. She almost snickered at the thought of her mom finding out that she was waltzing through the dark streets of Corona barefoot and only wearing her nightgown. She felt oddly freed, without any restraints of her life as a princess keeping her from doing whatever she wanted to do, if only for a few hours until she had to return.

Rapunzel silently made her way to the town's orphanage, where she knew her best friend would be resting in the confinements of his dark room. She was glad that the streets were completely empty, for she couldn't imagine the uproar that the sight of the princess walking around the village in the middle of the night still in her nightwear would cause. Certainly a scandalous thing that Mother Gothel would never let her forget. The disgrace that she would cause to her family, the rumors that would spread all over the kingdom and beyond! It was so risky that it made her feel almost thrilled. It made this whole rebellious act even more exciting.

The eerily quiet streets didn't bother her like they should as she approached the orphanage. This part of town was always darker, with the old buildings towering over her with their rusty door frames, dusty windows and tattered curtains. This was the poorest part of town, and the contrast with what Rapunzel had left behind always left a bittersweet taste in her mouth. What all these people living here wouldn't do to have what she had, and all she wanted was to be away from her luxurious life if only for a few hours.

The old familiar building came into view and she felt a rush of excitement welling up inside her. Rapunzel was almost sprinting in her step just to quicken the wait of seeing her best friend again. She knew that he needed her right now as much as she needed him. Eugene had not been himself for quite some time now too, and she really wanted to help him. She knew exactly what was bothering him, even though he would never admit it out loud. He was scared.

He would be turning eighteen in a few weeks, which meant that his stance in the orphanage would be coming to an end. Once he turned eighteen he would no longer be welcomed in the old building for orphan kids, because he wouldn't be considered a 'kid' anymore. He needed to get a job, and find a new place to live but he hadn't been able to find none yet. It seemed that time had flown by too soon and now they both had to deal with the harsh reality that they weren't kids anymore, and their life was drastically changing in a matter of months.

She finally reached the old orphanage and she carefully looked for the right window at the top of the building. It didn't take long to spot the dusty crystal of the only window visible at the very top of the orphanage, the room that she knew should be the attic, but had been partially turned into her best friend's bedroom when he turned fourteen and was too old to be sharing a room with the other younger orphan kids. She looked for the familiar little almost unnoticeable hook perched above the window, and swung a long thick strand of hair, the golden locks attaching immediately around the little hook.

She used her hair once more as a climbing rope, carefully pulling herself up and steadily climbing the brick walls as silently as possible. It wasn't long before she reached her destination, perching up on the windowsill as the rusty wood creaked under the weight of her body. She peeked inside the window, her eyes adjusting to the dim light of the moon barely illuminating the dark room. She could make out the sleeping form of her friend, the large bulge covered by the tattered blankets of his bed rising and falling steadily with each breath he took.

Rapunzel hesitated for a moment, before pushing the window open and silently slipping inside his bedroom. She tiptoed to his bed, careful not to stumble with the scattered clothes on the wooden floor. She stopped for a moment after she reached the foot of his bed, staring at his calm and relaxed sleeping face. The silvery moonlight illuminated his face in an almost magical way, making her insides churn with a foreign feeling. It felt like she had butterflies inside her stomach and her heart fluttered as she stared at his peaceful features. Had he always been this handsome? She had only started noticing how attractive he really was when she was thirteen, and her relatively normal but foreign feelings towards him had only developed into something bigger as the years passed.

She knew she loved him, she guessed that she had always loved him, just not like this. The intensity of her feelings crashing into her like powerful waves against the seashore. Her chest tightened at the thought of Eugene being something more than just her friend. Rapunzel had always thought that fairytales were completely ridiculous in her opinion. Living as a princess had made her realize since a very young age that her charming prince wasn't going to come riding a majestic white horse and was going to rescue her from her misery, and then they would both go riding into the sunset like all those silly stories ended like. These things just didn't happen in real life, and knowing that she was probably going to end up marrying a prince that she didn't even know made her skeptic of the deep love that all those romantic fairytales talked about. Was that even real or was it just another invention of the authors?

It was not until a few years ago, when her heart started fluttering randomly every time she saw Eugene's dazzling smile, or her breath caught up in her throat every time she heard his laugh, that she started questioning the existence of this weird feeling that all those books talked about. It was certainly another kind of magic, and she found herself unable to restrain her hopes that maybe someday things would change. That maybe Eugene would be her knight in shining armor, rescuing her from her fancy prison and they would live happily ever after.

This thoughts were completely wiped out of her mind as she saw Eugene shifting slightly. His eyes slowly fluttered open, as if he had somehow sensed her scrutinizing stare, and once his bleary eyes focused on her still form he let out a surprised yelp.

Eugene nearly fell out of his bed as he jerked up in utter surprise. "Rapunzel? W-what are you doing here?" His voice came out higher than usual, almost embarrassingly resembling a squeak, and he cleared his throat awkwardly, still trying to make sense of the situation. Rapunzel was inside his room, in the middle of the night, with only her _nightgown _as clothing. Was this some bizarre dream? It was probably that, just a trick of his insane imagination and he just needed to fall back asleep. There was _no way _Rapunzel was right in front of him now.

"Hey Eugene..." Rapunzel greeted awkwardly, trying to convince herself that coming in the middle of the night to the orphanage and barging inside Eugene's bedroom was perfectly normal. She shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot as she glanced at anything that wasn't Eugene's shocked hazel eyes.

"H-how... Why are you... How did you get in?" Eugene sputtered, finally deciding that it was more important finding out how on earth Rapunzel had managed to slip inside his bedroom completely unnoticed before anything else. This situation didn't make sense at all.

"I sneaked in." Rapunzel said with a shrug, her emerald eyes wide and innocent as she glanced back at him.

"Well, that much is obvious."

Rapunzel started to regret her decision to come visit her friend in the middle of the night as she glanced at Eugene's half crazed expression. He seemed confused beyond belief and she thought that it would be better to explain herself before he started freaking out. "I couldn't sleep, so I sneaked out of the palace to come and see you."

She bit her lip nervously as she waited for Eugene to make sense of the situation. She could almost see the gears turning in his head as his face softened a little and his warm brown eyes dawned with understanding.

"Oh."

His simple, still confused expression disappointed her and she took a few steps back towards the window, deciding that it was best to let his obviously baffled and exhausted mind rest for tonight. "I could go if you want me to..."

"No! No, it's okay. I was just..." Eugene trailed off not exactly sure if he was really awake or he was indeed dreaming. "surprised to see you here." He finished lamely as he looked at Rapunzel's timid expression. She almost looked like a little girl awakening her parents after a really bad nightmare. It made his heart clench with concern.

"I just... I've missed you." She stated a little shyly and Eugene's face softened at her confession.

"Yeah, I can understand that." The arrogant reply came out before his fuzzy brain could even process it, and he cursed himself under his breath as soon as the words tumbled out of his mouth. Rapunzel raised an unimpressed eyebrow as he flinched and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "I-I mean, I missed you too, Blondie." He stumbled over his words and he wished for a moment that he could disappear under the dark for a few minutes until he composed himself. He sometimes forgot that he could stop acting like his cocky overconfident self and be completely himself with the young princess. The pretenses weren't necessary around her but it was hard to slip out of his usual arrogant attitude that he showed to the world outside his tiny dusty bedroom.

Rapunzel knew his best friend like the back of her hand, and she sometimes surprised even herself when she could read even the faintest gestures he made like an open book. "I should probably go. You look tired, I'll come some other time."

"I'm fine, really." He insisted as he stood up from his bed. He wouldn't admit it out loud, but he was really glad to see her. He didn't realize how much he needed her presence until now. "I couldn't sleep either." He blurted out, as if it was the only statement that would make her stay a little bit longer.

Rapunzel eyed him skeptically. "You looked pretty asleep a few minutes ago."

"Yeah, but it took me a while to fall asleep." He wasn't lying when he told her that he had troubles sleeping too. He hadn't been able to have a restful night of sleep for a long time, his mind always drifting off to darker places where he worried about his imminent future. He shook the dangerous thoughts out of his mind as he glanced frustratedly around his dark bedroom. He was tired of thinking about what would happen when he got kicked out of the orphanage in the near future. He wasn't going to deal with that right now.

"You know what? Let's get out of here. I'm tired of being cooped up in this gloomy room, it's depressing." He said as he put on his boots and made his way to the open window.

Rapunzel looked at him a little confused. "Where are we going?" She asked as she warily approached the window, standing right behind him. He looked over his shoulder, glancing at her with a crooked smirk. She recognized that mischievous glint in his eyes.

"You'll see." He said simply before standing over the windowsill and carefully climbing down the old building. Rapunzel stared at him in awe, watching as he skillfully descended, feet hovering over windows and hands grasping at the rough bricks standing out of the walls. He stealthily made his way down, as if he had done it countless times before and before she knew it, he hoped to the ground with a silent thud.

He looked up at her with an expectant cheeky grin on his face. "You coming, Blondie?" He called with that arrogant hint in his voice and Rapunzel rolled her eyes.

She curled her hair around the hook above the window once more and with a graceful jump, she slid down reaching the ground way faster than Eugene had managed. Her bare feet touched the pebbled ground gracefully and she grinned smugly as she notice Eugene's slightly impressed face.

"And _that's_ the way to sneak out." She said smugly and giggled at Eugene's annoyed frown.

His irritated expression faded away a second later, replaced by his mischievous smirk. Rapunzel didn't even have time to react as she recognized that certain glint in his eyes. Eugene reached out and tugged sharply at the thick strand of hair still attached to the hook above his window, and the large pile of hair came tumbling to the ground too quickly for Rapunzel to react. She squeaked in surprise as the thick locks of hair came crashing over her, heavy enough to cause her to loose balance and stumble to the ground with the heavy pile of golden hair almost covering her entire body.

"Eugene!" Her voice came out muffled under her thick blonde hair and she could clearly hear Eugene snickering, the sound of his light footsteps fading away as he walked down the streets, beckoning her to follow. She stood up shakily, the dry ground beneath her scraping the soft skin of her feet, but she didn't really care. She quickly followed Eugene through the dark village, silently wondering were on earth he was taking her.

After a few minutes of silently following him around, Rapunzel could make out the silhouette of the bridge connecting the village with the woods. She stopped dead in her tracks as Eugene sauntered over to the stone bridge, obviously intending to cross it.

"We are going to the woods?" She exclaimed, and Eugene turned to look at her questioningly.

"Yes. Unless you have a problem with that?" He raised a questioning eyebrow and Rapunzel could feel a prickle of anxiety building up inside her.

"We're going to the woods at night." It wasn't really a question more than it was a statement. It seemed like she was merely confirming the information that she had just received.

"Yes. Is that a problem?" Eugene asked eyeing her curiously. He could detect a hint of fear reflecting in her expressive wide green eyes. "Come on, we've been there thousands of times before." He tried to reassure her.

"Not at night!" She exclaimed taking a few steps back, her eyes trailing from his face to the dark forest behind.

"What's the difference?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe that it's extremely dark?" She surprised herself with her sarcastic tone. Eugene's antics were definitely rubbing off on her. She tried to block out the memory of Mother Gothel telling her terrifying stories when she was a little girl about what happened to people when they wandered out in the woods at night. "Too dark, in fact." She settled for simply refusing to take a step forward. She wasn't going in there at all.

"What, are you afraid of the dark?" Eugene asked teasingly, raising his thick brown eyebrows in mock surprise.

Rapunzel bristled at his question, glaring at him with indignant emerald eyes. "I'm not afraid of the dark!" She snapped, before thinking better of it and amending her answer. "I'm afraid of the woods at night."

Her mumbled confession made him chuckle lightly. He stifled his laugh as she narrowed her eyes, green orbs blazing with irritation. "Come on, I won't let anything happen to you." Eugene promised, looking at her earnestly. "Trust me. I've been there at night before." He extended his hand at her, silently asking her to take it and follow him into the wild and mysterious forest. She looked at him skeptically for a second, before slowly taking his hand in hers, threading her fingers through his and taking a hesitant step forward.

He smiled encouragingly and gave a light tug at her hand beckoning her closer to him as he turned around, with her hand still securely clasped in his. He looked at her one more time, searching her eyes for any remainder fear and satisfactorily finding none. Rapunzel looked at him with a determined expression on her face, silently reassuring him that she really did trust him. And without a second thought, Eugene sprinted through the bridge, his agile feet pounding against the cobbled ground as he dragged Rapunzel behind him.

She felt a rush of excitement as she followed Eugene to a completely foreign world. Adrenaline pounding through her veins as she struggled to keep up her pace. She had never felt more alive, for the first time in her life she felt like she was actually free, and a light giggle escaped her throat as they approached the end of the bridge, leading directly to the dark woods. All the anxiety that she had felt just a few minutes ago dissipating as she ran faster, the cold wind blowing against her face and soothing her thoughts. She now didn't even care that this was reckless and probably insane, and for a moment she forgot about all her problems as she let herself be carried away to the unknown.

They finally reached the end of the bridge, breathing heavily with the exertion and slipping into the woods with only the moon to illuminate the dark forest. Eugene didn't stop there, leading Rapunzel deeper into the woods to some place she had never been before. She wondered where he was taking her as she marveled at the impossibly green area with ever curious eyes. The urge to explore her surroundings almost unbearable. They walked for a few more minutes, until Eugene finally stopped. She looked around and gasped at what she saw before her.

A clearing. The most amazing view she had ever seen before. It reminded her of the illustrations in her books. It seemed like it came straight out of a fairytale, the sight of the fireflies flying around the place, magically lighting up the clearing seemed surreal. The silver moonlight illuminated the vast area and reflected in the surface of the lake right in the middle of it. She looked up, and was even more surprised by the sight above her. Thousands of bright blinking stars decorating the night sky, only outshone by the impossibly bright moon.

"Do you like it?" Asked the now familiar deep voice of Eugene, who was standing right beside her, hand still tightly holding hers as he searched her expression. She smiled brightly at him, eyes sparkling with amazement and excitement.

"It's beautiful!"

Eugene couldn't help but return her smile, looking at her with a tenderness that he usually reserved only for her. He tugged at her arm gently, leading her to seat down on the soft green grass beside him. She obediently followed, still looking around in awe as she surveyed the almost magical clearing.

"My parents used to bring me here all the time when I was little." He said with a far off look on his face. "My mom used to point out the constellations, and my dad told me their respective stories." He lay down on the grass, looking up at the starlit sky with barely hidden nostalgia. Rapunzel followed shortly after, wondering why she had never bothered to look so closely at the sky, looking for the stories hidden in the stars. Maybe it was the fact that she was always too occupied to notice and she wasn't allowed to go out after her curfew, which was just before twilight.

"That one over there is Orion." He pointed over to a particular point in the sky. All Rapunzel could make out were three bright stars, perfectly lined and close to each other. "He was a hunter. And those there are his faithful dogs, Canis Major and Canis Minor." He said pointing over to another pack of lined stars. She still couldn't make out their forms but she listened intently anyway. "Together they hunt various celestial animals. Those three are Orion's Belt." he pointed to the line of stars that Rapunzel had recognized before, and she was glad that she had at least been able to make out a part of the ancient constellation. "They are the most easily recognizable."

"That one's Pegasus, a winged horse." He pointed to yet another constellation, marking out the outline for Rapunzel to see. Rapunzel perked up at the mention of something she easily recognized.

"Oh right! That's from Greek mythology, isn't it? It's a mythological animal." She said, satisfied with herself for successfully remembering something from one of her most interesting tutoring lessons. Eugene nodded, looking sideways at her fondly. He had always liked her enthusiasm.

Time seemed to stop as Eugene pointed to a bunch of constellations in the night sky, telling Rapunzel all he remembered of the stories that his parents had once told him before. Rapunzel listened to each and every one of the constellation stories with amazement, looking over at the sky with a newfound interest.

"This was my favorite place as a child. I came here even after... well, after my parents died. Whenever I couldn't sleep, I sneaked out of the orphanage and came here, I spent the whole night glancing at the stars and remembering every story that my father had told me, and I tried to make out every constellation that my mom had once pointed out for me. Somehow it felt like... like they were still here with me." He finished with a nostalgic sigh, glancing wistfully at the night sky.

Rapunzel's heart clenched painfully in her chest. She hated how sad he always looked at the mention of his parents, like all the light was suddenly wiped off his eyes in an instant. "Stargazing has always been one of my favorite secret things to do. It reminds me of them." He said with a bittersweet smile as he looked at her, his eyes soft in the dim light that the moon provided.

She scooted closer to him, hesitantly resting her head on his shoulder as she mulled over the question that she so desperately wanted to ask. "Eugene?"

"Hmm?"

"How... how did they..." She trailed off, suddenly regretting ever opening her mouth to ask such a thing. Eugene stiffened for a second, before relaxing his shoulders once more, looking at her with a raised eyebrow.

"How did they die?" He asked almost casually, trying to settle his feelings before he started explaining it to her. He didn't mind her asking, at least not as much as he would have minded had it been anyone else. He didn't have any secrets to hide, and somehow he felt almost comfortable talking about it with her.

Rapunzel didn't dare to move as he exhaled deeply, thinking that maybe she had upset him. A few agonizing minutes passed before he talked again.

"Pirate attack. We lived near the docks. My father went out to help the people outside. He never came back." He took a deep shaky breath, fighting the swirl of emotions threatening to overcome him as he forced himself to continue. "A cannon hit the side of my house, and my mother forced me out as she went for my little sister, she was upstairs crying and screaming for help. I got out just in time, and a few seconds later the house collapsed to the ground, completely engulfed in flames." His voice thickened with emotion as he blinked away the stubborn tears that had welled up in his eyes. He _wasn't_ going to cry, it had been so long since he had last been emotionally fragile like this. He sighed mournfully as he forced the words out if his mouth, swallowing the impossibly large lump in his throat. "Neither of them came out alive."

Rapunzel's eyes welled up with tears of her own. She regretted ever asking anything, Eugene's pained expression was too much for her to take. She could see him struggling to remain calm, but he was failing miserably. She could see the tears pooling in his eyes even in the dark and it made her heart seize with concern for her friend. "I'm so sorry, Eugene. I shouldn't have asked."

"It's okay. I think I needed to get it out anyway." He said, his voice shaking slightly and she gripped his hand in hers, trying to comfort him in any way possible. She felt the overwhelming need to hug him, but remained stiffly lying close beside him. "It's the first time I had actually talked about them since their death."

Rapunzel was suddenly reminded of the reason why she had sneaked out in the first place. She needed to talk to him about her ridiculously changing life. She felt trapped inside the palace, and no one really understood her need of freedom. She needed to get a bunch of things out as well.

"I'm scared." She blurted out her fear as if it was a dirty secret. Her words coming out as a whisper and for a moment she didn't know if he had actually heard her. Eugene turned to look at her, concern clouding his warm hazel eyes.

"Why?" It seemed like the safest question. He seriously hoped her fear didn't have anything to do with the story of his family's horrifying death, or the dark forest surrounding them. He would feel incredibly guilty if it was either one of those options.

"I just... I don't know." She sighed miserably, trying to organize her thoughts enough to express her worries. "I'm scared of the future, I guess. Everything is changing and suddenly I have a bunch of responsibilities and duties to fulfill, and I have to act a certain way to be approved in society, and I probably will end up marrying some prince that I won't even know, and I'll bee queen someday, and it's all just so terrifying!" She explained in a rush, suddenly feeling the weight of the world crashing on her shoulders. It was just too much to take in and she felt the sudden need to cry, her eyes stinging as she fought back her tears. "I'm scared." She repeated with terrified emerald eyes.

Eugene was bewildered to say the least. He had never heard Rapunzel like this, she sounded almost hysterical and it honestly worried him quite a bit. If he was honest with himself, he was scared too. The future seemed terrifying, and his approaching eighteenth birthday just made things even worse. But now all his worries seemed infinitely pointless as he heard Rapunzel rant about her fears. At least he didn't have to worry about being responsible for a whole kingdom or having to marry a complete stranger.

"I don't want to have all this responsibilities yet, I don't want to have to act like a snob perfect lady to be accepted in society. I don't want to get married, at least not with someone I don't even know. And I am terrified of being a queen." She was almost sobbing by this point and Eugene didn't even know what to do to comfort her. He stroked her shoulder tenderly, and lifted her chin up to make her look at him. Her wide eyes tearful and vulnerable. "What if I'm not a good queen?"

"Why wouldn't you be a good queen?" Eugene asked, genuinely confused. "You're kind, sweet, gentle, compassionate and the most selfless person I've ever met!" He stroked her hand, running soothing circles across her soft skin with his thumb. Rapunzel looked like she was ready to burst into tears, and he seriously didn't want to see her cry. "You're gonna be the best queen ever."

"You think so?" She asked tearfully, sniffling miserably and wiping a single distressed tear that had managed to slip through her eyelids.

"I know so."

"But... What about everything else? What if I won't be allowed to see you anymore in the future?" She asked frantically with a distressed whimper. "Mother Gothel says that I shouldn't even see you now, that it's inappropriate for a young lady like me to be seen with you almost all the time." Eugene felt a surge of disdain towards the old woman, he had never really liked Gothel. It seemed like she was determined into manipulating Rapunzel to do whatever she wanted her to do.

"I don't listen to her, of course. I don't really care what people think about us if they see us together. But what if when I get older I won't be able to see you anymore? I don't want them to separate us, Eugene." She whispered fearfully, and Eugene didn't know what to do to soothe her thoughts. Because really, there was not much he could do to prevent that from happening. He knew that their friendship was not exactly approved by society. She was now a young maiden, a princess. And he was a young man, a commoner. It was awfully inappropriate for them to be seen together, he knew that. And he didn't think that she would be allowed to keep seeing him once she got betrothed to another man. A noble who was worthy of her. But he couldn't bring himself to accept that just yet.

A world without Rapunzel would be terribly lonely. He knew they would have to part ways eventually, but for now he was determined to enjoy every minute that he got to spend with her. And who knows? Maybe he would be able to keep seeing her. A forbidden friendship didn't sound so bad if it meant that he would be able to be with her.

"Don't worry. We will figure something out, that won't have to happen." Eugene said, trying to convince himself as much as Rapunzel that that could be a possibility.

Rapunzel couldn't fight her instincts anymore. The worry and uncertainty was eating at her chest and she finally cave in, flinging her thin arms around Eugene's waist and hugging him tightly. She didn't want to be away from the only person that understood how she felt, the only person who made her feel alive and strong and like she was able to do whatever she proposed herself to do. She wouldn't stand a world without her best friend by her side, always making her laugh even when she was sad, the one who always made her feel better even in the worst situations. She didn't want to lose that.

"Promise me we will always be together. Promise me you won't ever leave me alone." She whispered, burying her face in his chest and hugging him tighter.

"I promise Blondie. They will never be able to keep me away from you. I will always be by your side, no matter what." Eugene gently stroked her back, silently wondering how he would be able to keep that promise. One thing was for sure, he wouldn't let Rapunzel go though all of that alone, even if he had to sneak into the palace for the rest of his life just to see her, he would do it. He would risk getting sent to prison just to be with her.

"Really?" Rapunzel's huge emerald eyes looked at him hopefully, and he couldn't help but smile tenderly at her.

"Of course! That's what friends are for, right?"

"Right." She said, her voice dropping to an almost defeated tone. _Friends._ That was all they were ever going to be. They couldn't be something more, she knew that. Even their friendship was not even appropriate. But she still couldn't erase her newfound feelings for him. Rapunzel knew that she would have to get rid of them sooner rather than later, they were never going to be together that way, it was impossible.

But as she glanced at the night sky above, and saw the bright stars reflecting in his warm brown eyes, she knew that getting over him would be far more complicated than she had initially thought. At least she still had time to do it, she considered that she wasn't that far into him yet. She should just stop those ridiculous thoughts.

"Wanna know a secret?" Rapunzel was snapped out of her thoughts as Eugene finally spoke after a few minutes of peaceful silence.

"Hmm"

"You're the only one who knows about this place." He confessed without a hint of doubt in his voice.

"Really?" She asked slightly surprised and honored to be the first person with whom he had ever shared this especial place.

"Yeah. And the only person I have ever stargazed with, aside from my parents of course." Eugene furrowed his brow, as if he was concentrating on something important. "You know, I think that makes it our... Secret Place."

"Our Secret Place?" Rapunzel asked as she turned to look at him, eyebrows raised with confusion.

"Yes. We told each other something that we wouldn't tell anybody else, here. Like... our secrets. So, this will be our Secret Place." He explained with a hint of finality and he turned his head to look fully at her with a crooked grin. "And stargazing will be our thing."

"Stargazing will be our thing?" Maybe it was the tiredness or maybe she was just that dumb, but she was feeling pretty slow tonight. Once again, she didn't understand what Eugene meant with this at all.

"Yup."

"So you won't do this with anybody else?" She tried to hint him into explaining her this statement too.

"Nope. It will be our thing, we should come here to the woods every once in a while to stargaze and just... let things out. Forget about everything else for a while. It's relieving." Oh, that did make sense. She didn't know stargazing could be such a relaxing and amazing experience. But of course, maybe it had something to do with the fact that she was doing this with the company of Eugene.

"You're right, stargazing will definitely be our thing. And this will be our secret."

Rapunzel smiled as she relaxed in Eugene's strong warm arms. For a moment, she once again forgot about her worries and she let herself enjoy this pleasant moment while it lasted. For just this night, the entire world seemed to open in her eyes, and she almost believed that she really could do anything she wanted to do if she was determined enough. For this special night, she felt free, strong and safe. No matter what the future holds, she would always have Eugene there to make her feel safe and protected. She really hoped that they would always be together.

It was a good thing that no matter how tired and relaxed her mind was, she still was semiconscious of what came out of her mouth, otherwise she might have ended blurting out words that she would sure regret.

The words _'I love you'_ were still thankfully trapped in the back of her throat, refusing to come out. At least not just yet.

* * *

**I hope you liked this, guys, and as always, some reviews would be really appreciated. I'd really like to know what you think about this little flashback story, remember that your opinion is really important to me.**

**Thanks for reading and don't forget to review!**


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